EPT MONACO - TUESDAY

I was up and dressed before 830A, so I waited an hour to see if anyone would call. Breakfast is included in the stay, and it is available until 10A, so at 930A I phoned Thomas and Johnny. Johnny slept through the ringing, but Thomas was just returning from the gym, so we had breakfast together. Afterwards, we walked around a bit, and I showed him the underground shopping center that I had found yesterday. Then we went in the other direction, down a long steep hill towards the marina. Across from the marina was the elusive supermarket. I bought some small bottles of bordeaux and scotch for the room, with some snacks and a six-pack of large Evian waters. Thomas bought nothing but liquor, to take home to Sweden. He tells me that alcohol, even Swedish vodka, is marked up 400% by the government. Sounds like a sin tax for a country with socialized health care. The walk up the hill carrying all that water was the most exercise I've had in awhile.

We dumped our refreshments at the hotel and I phoned Johnny and woke him up. Dana (badassmuther1) phoned Thomas, explaining that he was with his girlfriend and doing his own thing. Johnny came with Thomas and me back to the shopping center, where we all had lunch and bought swimsuits. I hate to buy anything with the crummy exchange rate, but I figured it was not a bad idea to splurge on trunks, which will enhance the hotel experience. We found some decent suits at LaCoste for 54 euros (around $70). On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in at the Sporting D'Hiver to register for the event. They had to handwrite our badges, but at least we were on the list. While Johnny and I were waiting in line, Thomas went back to the hotel to get Dana. Johnny and I joked that Thomas was skipping out on us just when the bill was coming, but it was all good. Thomas came back with Dana and his girlfriend, Stacy, both of whom are very nice. We got signed up and got our seat assignments. I am at table 1, seat 6. The preprinted badges were all arranged in alphabetical piles, and I recognized a few names, including 2004 WSOP champion, Greg Raymer. I'm sure Chris Moneymaker will be there as well.

Upon returning to the hotel, Thomas saw Fougan, "the Furious Frenchman" signing in. Fougan is a big Team PokerRoom guy. He was forced to buy his way into the tourney when he went 0-3 in the qualifiers, finishing top five all three times. When I told him I was dudeseeg, he told me the hand I knocked him out with. He was at the final table, short-stacked, and went all in with KQ just as I got aces. I don't even remember that hand, but Thomas says Fougan never forgets a hand. We ran into Corey, the PokerStars guy we had hung out with last night, and we invited him for a group swim. The natatorium is amazing! The pool is huge and heated. It is saltwater, so you just have to lean back and you will float with no effort. We spent some time in the Turkish bath, which infused us with eucalyptus. There are saunas as well, but I wanted to save something for next time. Corey is a small-town Missouri guy in the construction trade. He is so middle American, he is funny. He was craving a Bud Light, but came away from the pool bar saying they only have coffee samples. The coffee, of course, is espresso, which is served in shot glass-sized mugs.

At 6P, we met in Thomas' room to sign the contracts. He gave us shirts and 500 euros spending cash. We had some drinks, then headed down to the welcoming party in the lobby. The room was packed when we got there. Team PokerRoom stuck together for the most part. We talked with some PokerStars players and some administrative guys. Everyone is very nice, and for the most part, just happy to be here. Neither Johnny nor Dana had a passport until this trip came up. Many others are experiencing Europe for the first time. I saw Marcel Luske and Devil Fish Ulliott. Some other faces looked familiar, but I couldn't place the names. There was a little cutie whom I believe is Isabelle Mercier. The tournament director said a few words, but the acoustics were horrible, so I couldn't really make it out. He invited Greg Raymer up to the stage, and the two of them bantered for a bit while we made our way closer to the stage.

I never did understand anything they were saying, but when the director closed with "enjoy the party," I made my way to Raymer, who was suddenly stranded. I complimented him on his World Series play. I told him that I watched the series, not realizing that he was the eventual champion, and I was pulling for him because of the way he played and his cordial table talk. He's a nice fellow. He pulled us over to another spot, behind the speakers, and we talked for awhile. I asked him how he liked his new celebrity status and he kind of shrugged. I asked him to lend some of his celebrity to us, and I recruited a guy to take a picture of Team PokerRoom with the famous Fossilman. I closed by telling him that I read about his incident in Vegas with the would-be robbers, and I was glad that he made it out of there in one piece. Tom originally broke this story on The Nuts - Raymer was going up to his suite at the Bellagio with umpteen thousands of dollars in cash, when he was accosted by gunmen just outside his door. They told him to quietly go into his room, and Fossilman instead began yelling for help. The confused assailants ran away as their plan was thwarted. Raymer used his stump line that he "made the best decision at the time."

Later, on my way to the loo, I passed the Devil Fish in the hall. He is a handsome Brit, who always looks dapper. The swagger he carries himself with is almost cartoonish. He was fairly sloshed, so far as I could tell, and when our eyes met, I just said "Devilfish," and he gave me the "hey, howya doin'?" When I got back to the party, I was behind Devilfish at the bar, but now he was entertaining two gushing lovelies, so I let him be. I joined Thomas and Fougan, and lent Fougan an ear as he replayed every bad beat in his lifetime in astonishing detail. Fougan had a French friend, Christophe, with him who had won a seat at PokerStars, but had sold it for over nine grand. Not a bad idea. He took the guaranteed money, and still spent the week in Monaco.

At 930P, we went over to the Sporting D'Hiver for some sit and go tournament action. The cheapest tables were 100 euros, of which the house pocketed 15, and paid only two spots. Still, we all wanted some EPT action so that tomorrow wouldn't be too terribly overwhelming. At my table, I got no cards until I was dealt tens under the gun. I called, hoping to induce some calls, and see the flop cheaply. There were two calls, before a guy went all in. I should have folded without question, but the alcohol in my blood convinced me that I had him beat and I could double up. I showed tens and he showed kings. As soon as I saw them, I scolded myself for the move and promised that it could never happen in the main event. I hit my ten on the turn, but he had already hit the flop, so I was left with 50, which was soon gone. I made the cardinal sin of falling in love with a hand, just because it compared so favorably to all the hands that preceded it.

I bought in for another game, and fared a little better, but still wasn't playing as I will need to if I'm going to last tomorrow. Corey, the Missouri guy, sat at my table and found himself heavy on dollars and light on euros. I loaned him 50 for the buy in, then watched him finish tenth, and it was me who busted him. He raised pre-flop, and I re-raised with JJ, putting him on a short stack. The flop came 8 high, two diamonds. I went all in and he called with two big diamonds. Neither hit, and he was gone. That was the only really nice pot that I won. Once, I paid 300 to see a flop from the button with 55. Not a great idea. Another time, I tried to buy the blinds, holding 22, and everybody and their sister called behind me. There was a Filipino lady sitting two to my left who was a very good player. Ultimately, she was my demise. The game was five-handed, and it folded around to my small blind. I held Q7. They say Q6 or so is a random quality hand, and I had that beat, though just barely. I should have either folded, or gone all in. Instead, I raised to twice the big blind (600) and she did some calculations in her head, and then called. The flop came K44. I knew by the calculations that she didn't have a king, because that would have been a no-brainer call. The odds suggested that she held no four, so I pushed all in, and she quickly called with 94. The pain. She wound up winning the tourney, but when I spoke with her later, she told me she wasn't playing tomorrow. She made some money, but ultimately she went home with the angry-looking swarthy guy, so it's not all roses.

Johnny won his first table, then lost to a bad beat at the second. He was short-stacked and called a raise, putting him all in with A9. The raiser held K9, which should have been a slam dunk, but the TJQ hit the board and Johnny was gone. Fougan was in that game, and when he was getting short-stacked, he pushed all-in with fours. He won the showdown, and doubled up. Then he called a guy's all-in with AT offsuit. He must have had an incredible read on the guy, who turned over A7 suited. I didn't stay for the end, because when Corey busted out, I put a tail on him, so that I could get my 50 back. Corey was 0-3 and so was Dana. Thomas was 0-1, and Johnny was 1 for 2. I was 0-2 and done for the night. Thomas offered to buy a meal, as we had all missed dinner, but it was 1230A, and I thought it best to get some sleep and wake up in time for breakfast.

There was some good competition, and also some questionable casino-level play tonight. The blinds were increasing quickly, so whoever got the cards early had a tremendous advantage. Tomorrow, there will be 90-minute levels, so I'm just going to take my time, and wait for something good to happen. I got some of the gamble out of my system tonight. Now it's time to play some poker.